"The knee-jerk reaction is, 'Let's scare the bad guys off,"' Kuziak said. "But people who have committed these acts are not stable and normal in their thinking," considering they've been willing to kill themselves, she said.

Still, that doesn't mean more can't be done in terms of firearms training for teachers, some say.

One suggestion is to offer that training to public school employees through the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council. During a radio call-in show on Wednesday, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said he would be open to presenting that idea to POST.

However, Shurtleff's office insisted Thursday that despite broadcast reports, it was not an initiative of the Utah Attorney General's Office.

"The idea deserves public scrutiny to see if it has any merit," spokesman Paul Murphy said Thursday.

The UEA for one doesn't believe it does.

Yet there are teachers interested in Aposhian's invitation. So far, about 2 dozen teachers and public school employees have signed up for his class. Included with the free class is fingerprinting and photography for the concealed-weapons application. Public school employees will still have to pay a $59 application fee to the state.

Despite the UEA's opposition to the idea, Aposhian said he has not heard any detractors. He sees only an additional layer of school security with teachers legally and lawfully carrying concealed weapons.

"A shooter going in there may pause to reflect," he said. "Because they may find a teacher carrying a firearm for self-defense."

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; jtcook@desnews.com